Parliament Auditor Heavily Critiques German Army
5 February, 2020

Bloomberg wrote that Germany has no intention of keeping its 2 % GDP promise to NATO and not keeping its army operational. An article named “Germany Needs a Bigger, Stronger Army” is published at the Daily. The article starts by drawing a dramatic picture of German soldiers driving a Volkswagen minibus to imitate tanks as three in four of their tanks are at the repair shop. The writer quotes Hans-Peter Bartels, an ombudsman appointed by parliament to audit the country’s armed forces; “About 20,000 job openings can’t be filled because so few young people want to enlist. Officers complain that standards are being lowered and that recruits are “fatter, weaker and dumber.”

Bartels concludes that Germany’s army would currently be unable to contribute adequately to the collective defence of NATO, the Western alliance if any member were attacked.

“Nobody in Berlin is seriously planning a 2% army,” Bartels said.

US President Donald Trump forced in recent years German Chancellor Angela Merkel to increase her country’s NATO contribution to 2 percent of GDP. The German army is criticised for a long time for its low operational capacity.